The quarter-final matches in the Women’s Singles event was a
demonstration of Chinese table tennis art. Wang Nan, Guo Yue and Zhang
Yining all reached the semi-finals.
The closest match was
between Singapore’s Feng Tianwei and Zhang Yining. Zhang won 13-11,
12-14, 14-12, 12-10, 13-11; it was not a match for the faint-hearted.
The only possible spoilsport in the race for the medals is Li Jia
Wei. The 27 year old from Singapore overcame US player Wang Chen with
four games to one.
Five of the Six Finalists Prevail - Oh the only Korean
The
Chinese Olympic gold medallists Wang Hao, Wang Liqin and Ma Lin all won
their matches. Only Ma Lin lost a game against Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic.
One
German silver medallist is out. Christian Süss lost to Vladimir
Samsonov 0-4. Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov both qualified for the
last 16.
Austria’s Werner Schlager eliminated Korea’s Yoon Jae
Young in seven games. After Ryu Seung Min already lost too, Oh Sang Eun
is the only Korean left in the draw. Oh will challenge Germany’s Timo
Boll in the round of the last 16.
Segun Toriola’s Run Stopped by Oh Sang Eun
It
was again a hard battle, this time over seven games. Nigeria’s Segun
Toriola, the last African player, however lost today. After beating
Saive yesterday, Korea’s Oh Sang Eun was a wee bit stronger.
Four
of the seven games were won by a two points difference only. Segun
missed the round of the last 16 where he would have faced Germany’s
Timo Boll. Although Oh deserved to win, one will miss the African;
Toriola was enrichment for the Olympic tournament.
Primorac and Persson Continue
Two
of the six times Olympians are still in the tournament. Sweden’s Jörgen
Persson beat Cheung Yuk of Hong Kong China with 4-1. Persson will
challenge the Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov in the last 16.
It
was a much harder fight for Croatia’s Zoran Primorac against Michael
Maze. Primorac eventually won 13-11 in the sixth game after a fantastic
long rally in the end. The match point was symptomatical; Maze was too
often under pressure and in the defence.
Source: www.ittf.com
